<b>Courtesy Harry Lefrak / www.lefrakphotography.com</b>Incline freshman Hannah Laurie speeds to a seventh-place finish in the opening Tahoe Basin League ski race of the season last Thursday at Alpine Meadows. Find more photos of the race at www.lefrakphotography.com.

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The Incline High alpine ski team had only two racers at the opening Tahoe Basin League race at Alpine Meadows last Thursday, but both underclassmen held their own against their elder competition.

Freshman Hannah Laurie, who brings to the Highlanders years of racing experience, skied well in both of her runs to record a seventh-place finish in the giant slalom race. She posted a two-run combined time of 1:12.90, while Michael Gardner of Whittell claimed the overall win in 1:09.91.

Hailey Perkins of Truckee was second in 1:10.69, and Johanna Gur of North Tahoe rounded out the top three in 1:11.52.

In the boys race, Incline freshman Daniel Luksch skied a conservative run, opting to work on what Incline coaches Joe Humasti and Steve Hansen stressed to him during workouts.

"His goal was to ski well and finish both runs, which he did," Humasti said. "He will gain racing experience as the season progresses."

Despite skiing conservatively, Luksch finished 33rd among the varsity boys, posting a combined time of 1:23.23.

North Tahoe senior Nico Monforte won the race in a time of 1:03.93, while Connor McKeen of South Tahoe was second in 1:04.62 and Lucas Earley of North Tahoe was third in 1:05.63.

In the team results, South Tahoe's boys and girls both captured wins to also lead the Vikings to the combined victory. South Tahoe posted a combined score of 399 points to runner-up North Tahoe's 390 and Truckee's 329. Douglas (296) was fourth overall, followed by Whittell (257), Carson (192) and Incline (74).

Aside from Laurie and Luksch, the Incline squad also includes freshmen Annika Hansen and Amanda Pretti, sophomores Keely Batmale and Ian Reeves, and senior Kyle Reeves.

UP NEXT: The next Tahoe Basin League race, a giant slalom, is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 21, at Homewood.